April 7, 2014

In the face of newly-imposed sanctions by the US, Russian agriculture minister Nikolai Fyodorov has urged farmers in the Ural area to continue operating their businesses normally.

Approximately 22% of meat and meat products consumed in Russia is imported from the west including about 11% of poultry meat, while in some regions the share of imported poultry meat reaches 25%, local media reports. In this situation Russian poultry farmers are afraid that sanctions will hurt their businesses.

"We are now actively working with any alternative suppliers of the products concerned," Fyodorov said.

According to the Minister in particular one such alternative food supplier is Germany, who has provided the Sverdlovsk region with poultry products and chicken eggs since 1995.

Fyodorov suggested supplementing the Sverdlovsk region's own poultry plant operation with increased orders from Germany's Lohmann Tierzucht to mitigate the impact of the sanctions.